Fishing contest controversey: The rules count!

Technology and exuberance have clashed in this year’s fishing photo contest.  Some of you have noted in the comments section that you thought some people were voting too often. To a certain extent you are correct.

Here’s what happened, and here’s what we’re doing about it.

My original intent as the creator of the contest was to allow people to vote once per day.  This creates a fun rivalry between families and keeps people interested in watching the horse race develop in the month after our judges choose their favorites.

Some people figured out how to beat the system, by adjusting their computers to trick our filter.  We now know how that happened and will take steps to correct it in next year’s contest.

In the meantime, a close examination of the official rules written by the WSLS legal department clearly states that we will count only one vote per IP address.  (That’s the signature that comes from your individual computer.)

“20. For online voting for the Grand Prize Winners there shall be no multiple commercial electronic mail messages to vote for any of the Finalists; Only one (1) vote per IP Address.”
Our web guru’s have access to that information and are deleting all but one vote from each address. 

This process will ensure that the winner is the only legal winner possible.  That person may or may not be the one who has the most votes showing on the public page.

Thanks again for entering the contest.  We had the best year ever this year.  We were able to showcase the tradition we all enjoy so much—to the public and to each other.  Another generation of anglers is coming along to enjoy time outdoors, just the way it was for generations before them.